“Direct Control Assignment assigns controls at the touch of a button. Simply select a parameter, hit the Direct Control Assignment button and move the controller to control that parameter. It’s easy!”

Ok, that above and the red “assign” button next to the 8 knobs might actually mean that any of them can be assigned. Which would be absolutely fantastic.

Jote - 16 January 2016 01:25 PM

“Direct Control Assignment assigns controls at the touch of a button. Simply select a parameter, hit the Direct Control Assignment button and move the controller to control that parameter. It’s easy!”

Ok, that above and the red “assign” button next to the 8 knobs might actually mean that any of them can be assigned. Which would be absolutely fantastic.

Yes, I think there’s something to that. Note “AsgnKnob 1” and “Assign 1” in the display:

My gut: it’s still (luckily) a workstation, with a similarly specified sequencer. 32 parts in the sequencer would be a significant upgrade.
I have this hunch it’s gonna sound and have potential to sound really good.
Greater dynamic control in the AWM2 deluxe + the smoothness, changes, & fidelity from this gen FM.
I’m basing my hunch on what I believe is a deep sense of what the XF strengths (& weaknesses) are.

I think, today, a digital synth doing FM synth has strength in integrity. I think this Motif successor will be “enough” and amazing for doing what it can do. I wonder how the digital filters will sound better just by being linked up to a higher fidelity source & back end.

I hope the 2nd pair of analog outs are there. (Thought I read otherwise.)
And luckily there are other boards that have other strengths others seek. I figure a one all-in-one is only if we make it that. And today, 2 pieces really get you far. And 3- well, a ton. A piece can be a computer.
Eventually- more and more..... Not so good, right? Except sometimes, it’s that next piece that may help down-sizing? I can’t say I know- yet.

I wonder if the flash card slots from the XF will not make it to the Montage? Anyone have a hunch on that?
Right now they are on XF, MOXF, and one or two Tyroses, right?

The compatibility with XF means sample sound developers can target montage and XF- so XF users can still enjoy a bit on that end. (Yes, no on Montage specific things.)

-- earlier someone put 8-op FM and Spectral Modeling together in one thought. Anyone care to explain that?

Thanks.

dsetto - 16 January 2016 02:28 PM

I wonder if the flash card slots from the XF will not make it to the Montage? Anyone have a hunch on that?
Right now they are on XF, MOXF, and one or two Tyroses, right? [...]

From Yamaha USA Montage info:
Integrated Flash Memory
MONTAGE includes 1.75 GB of user flash memory with high speed reading/writing for your own custom samples or synth libraries from yamahasynth.com.

Even if the flash memory can be further expanded, I question whether the Montage will use the same flash memory modules as the models you mentioned, since high speed writing wouldn’t fit their description.

dsetto - 16 January 2016 02:28 PM

I wonder if the flash card slots from the XF will not make it to the Montage? Anyone have a hunch on that?
Right now they are on XF, MOXF, and one or two Tyroses, right?

The compatibility with XF means sample sound developers can target montage and XF- so XF users can still enjoy a bit on that end. (Yes, no on Montage specific things.)

-- earlier someone put 8-op FM and Spectral Modeling together in one thought. Anyone care to explain that?

Thanks.

It has build in 1.75 GB flash for user samples and programs.. 

No word on expandabillity...mwould be great to have 2x2Gb expandabillity on top of the build in 1.75 GB…

Compatibillity with the XF could be a one way street, its called backward compatibillity..

Thats two of the many many questions people have after reading the basic information…

- how about a basic sequencer to stream standard midi and/or audio tracks..
- how about Arp’s did they make the crossover to Montage
- and pattern mode? Hope its still there, a very usefull creative tool
- i hope to see a Karma version for Montage ( steven kay said that if there is backward compatibillity to the motif, he would probably do it)
- i hope i can setup a winows system that runs Karma, v-arranger and cubase at the same time in combination with the Montage (currently mac user, but varranger does not run on Mac)
- i hope the sliders and knobs can also be used to controll VST’s and effects in Cubase, maybe even NI-komplete..  I hope for ultimate flexibillity and freedom when adding functions to the knobs and sliders
- how far will both engines be integrate with eachother.. It would be great to use an FM sound as an ellement in AWM, or use the samples directly with the FM engine..

So much great information, yet still so many questions..  And answers still a week away… I hope to see some really good detailed demo’s from Namm..

“how far will both engines be integrate with eachother.. It would be great to use an FM sound as an ellement in AWM, or use the samples directly with the FM engine..”

The data so far suggests that they are two separate engines, unfortunately.

From the website

“Motion Control Synthesis Engine unifies and controls two iconic Sound Engines: AWM2 (high-quality waveform and subtractive synthesis) and FM-X (modern, pure Frequency Modulation synthesis.) These two engines can be freely zoned or layered across eight parts in a single MONTAGE Performance”

PERFORMANCE. Not VOICE. So, no integration of the engines.

Hi --

It’s the end of the road for the old style flash DIMMs. The previous tone generator chip had two full parallel memory busses (channels) and the DIMMs plugged directly into the tone generator. From Yamaha’s point of view as well as our’s, that DIMM interface ain’t cheap.

The new tone generator uses the Open Nand Flash Interface (ONFI). ONFI is used within SSD, etc. It is a very different interface than the old DIMMs.

I’m curious about the high speed writing from both the user perspective and the engineering perspective. It’ll be a good, long while before the engineering side is clear.

Although Yamaha may surprise me (and it would be a pleasant surprise), they haven’t mentioned user expansion and I’m afraid that’s not in the cards. Sometimes I like to be wrong, wrong, wrong. :-(

-- pj
http://sandsoftwaresound.net

Thanks for those thoughts.

Unrelated musing:
There’s great value in the continued evolution of AWM2 that’s intertwined with the board’s UI. Montage seems to do that- *and* improve on it. This helps sustain the user-developer network. There was the possibility that this could have entirely jettisoned previous instruments, but it seems that’s not the case. And it does seem they struck a good balance of forward, deeper, and continued. (Developing the strengths.) That’s cool. But I’m a 1st gen “Mo” user. I haven’t exhausted nor tired of “Mo” capabilities.

Hey, np. Being a software engineer pays off now and then ;) Kudos to 5pinDIN for spotting the cached website.

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY !!!!  NOW !!!!

bapemos - 16 January 2016 12:54 AM

Yamaha sometimes(specially for the past 3 years) reminds me to Nintendo, their market strategy seems to be “not to compete”. It seems that they are not interested in creating something similar of what their competitors already have in the market but in trying to offer a different alternative.

I don’t think this is Yamaha’s answer to Jupiter 80, this is actually Yamaha’s answer to Kronos, even if it’s different...as they are stating in their youtube video description...It’s their new FLAGSHIP synth.

It’s kind of funny to see how people are never satisfied with anything.....If yamaha releases a Kronos like workstation, some people would say : “oh it’s just the same as Kronos, Yamaha is not innovating anymore”....and now with the Montage, some say: “oh come on! I wanted something like kronos!”. _-_

anyways..Let’s wait a few more days to see the official specs and features.

I agree totally.

nixmoon - 16 January 2016 08:35 PM

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY !!!!  NOW !!!!

Someone might willingly take your money (but who knows how much), and it will be months before the product is released.

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

5pinDIN - 16 January 2016 08:56 PM

… it will be months before the product is released.

:-(

I’m starting to rethink all those mean things I said about touch screens…